| | Changes imposed by FIA for 2008 Season |
For the 2008 races, traction control is banned. These systems keep the cars’ rear wheels from spinning if too much power is applied. With this ban, drivers’ skills become a greater determinant in the results of each race. More overtaking is expected as a result of this new ruling, due to drivers’ mistakes as they learn to adapt to the loss.
Further rulings were also made to level the playing field more. One such ruling is a ban on electronically-assisted starting systems that ensure optimal getaway at flag-off. All teams are also required to use standardised, FIA-approved electronic control unit (ECU) to control their cars' electronics. Developed by McLaren Electronic Systems and Microsoft, the new standard ECU controls power trains and provides high-speed data delivery and analysis from the cars to the Formula 1 teams, which in turn allows the FIA to monitor the cars' performance more closely.
In another ruling, gearboxes must now last for four consecutive races, or the driver will be dropped five places on the grid at next meeting. However, a driver may start the next meeting with a new gearbox without incurring a penalty if he fails to finish a race.
Some changes were also made to the qualifying format for this year’s races. The duration of Q1 has been increased to 20 minutes, while Q3 has been shortened to 10 minutes. Q2 remains 15-minutes long, keeping the total duration of the qualifiers to the same 45 minutes. Cars participating in Q3 will no longer get back the fuel used in that session, and will start the race with whatever fuel is left at the end of qualifying. This final rule change hopes to remove the infamous 'fuel-burning' practice at the start of Q3. |
| | |
